Director: Rakhshan Banietemad
Cast: Ali Nasirian, Mohammadali Keshavarz, Mahtaj Nojoomi, Jahangir Forouhar, Rasul Najafian
Pool Khareji is a 1989 Iranian comedy film directed by Rakhshan Banietemad, following an ordinary working man whose routine life is upended when he stumbles upon a fortune in foreign currency — and must decide what to do with a secret that could change everything.
What is Pool Khareji about?
Morteza Olfat is a mild-mannered office worker burdened by the small frustrations and financial pressures of everyday life in Tehran. One afternoon, chance hands him something extraordinary: a stack of fifty thousand dollars in foreign cash. Rather than reporting the find, Morteza keeps quiet and begins the complicated task of converting the money — a process that pulls him into unfamiliar territory, tests his relationships, and forces him to weigh comfort against conscience. The film builds its comedy from the gap between Morteza's modest character and the outsized problem he now carries, asking whether a windfall truly solves a man's troubles or simply trades one set for another.
Cast & crew
Rakhshan Banietemad, one of Iran's most respected filmmakers, brings a grounded, observational eye to the material. Ali Nasirian anchors the film as Morteza, drawing on his long career in Iranian cinema and theater to render the everyman with warmth and quiet detail. Mohammadali Keshavarz, Mahtaj Nojoomi, and Jahangir Forouhar round out a seasoned ensemble well-suited to social comedy.
Context & significance
Released in 1989, Pool Khareji arrived during a period when Iranian cinema was finding its distinctive post-revolution voice — balancing state expectations with genuine storytelling about ordinary citizens. Banietemad, who would go on to become one of the defining chroniclers of Iranian social life, uses the comedy of a sudden windfall to probe class anxiety, the temptation of easy money, and the moral arithmetic of everyday people. For diaspora viewers, the film offers a vivid portrait of Tehran street-level life and a humor rooted in shared cultural memory — the perpetually strapped worker, the bureaucratic tangle, the unspoken weight of keeping a secret in a close-knit community.
Where & how to watch
Pool Khareji is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch in your browser, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Cancel anytime.